


Self-Inflicted Exile

by slightlyjillian



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: M/M, Second Chances, crude language, romantic meddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-05
Updated: 2010-03-05
Packaged: 2017-10-07 17:57:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlyjillian/pseuds/slightlyjillian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-EW. After the war, some soldiers escaped. Others need a nudge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Self-Inflicted Exile

**Author's Note:**

> I seldom explore _bastard_-Nichol in favor of _misunderstood_-Nichol or _decent guy-_Nichol, so I figured I'd give him a ride around the block.

"Is he bothering you?"

Nichol leaned back from the bar to see whoever was interrupting his conversation with the pretty girl. His vision (maybe he _had_ had a few too many) blended the colors of the stage lights with the smokey haze of the fog machine. Somewhere in that mass was a person, a male person, who spoke again, "I think you should move along..."

"I'm fine, really." The girl reached out to touch Nichol's shoulder.

_About time, too_, Nichol reasoned. He'd been obtusely laying on the charm for at least five minutes. His house was within walking distance if neither of them sobered up enough in the chill breeze.

Someone in the corner started clapping. "Thanks. Thanks for listening." A woman sat on a stool and plucked a few strings on her guitar. The piping music stilled in the chintzy speakers allowing for the next performer.

"Pardon me, ma'am." The voice came closer. Nichol found himself under the scrutiny of ink black eyes and the features of a relatively attractive Chinese man.

"I said I'm okay." The girl sighed heavily. The sleeve of her dress slipped and Nichol caught sight of a very pink bra strap. Nichol snorted into his drink. Maybe his vision wasn't drunk, simply _preoccupied_.

"I simply wanted to remind you that the bets were opening for the next race. I believe that you..."

"Enough. I don't need a lecture." The girl cut off the interloper with a flick of her wrist. Her fingernails sparkled, somehow. Nichol didn't bother with understanding such mysteries of the feminine side of the genders. "Want to come with me?" she asked.

"Absolutely." Nichol tipped over his drink with most of it dribbling off the edge. "Oh geez."

"I'll get you another one." She had his arm and pulled with a strength Nichol hadn't expected. Or perhaps he was that pliable. His mind rushed from one sluggish thought to the next.

"Really, ma'am, I don't think you realize what sort of security risk this _gentleman_ poses to you." This time the officer ended his own speech with an abrupt salute to a woman in civilian clothes and excellent posture.

Nichol found himself comparing cleavage until startled into the present by his given name.

"_Eriks Nichol_. You are absolutely the last person I ever expected to see again," Lucrezia Noin chuckled. "However, it looks like you've slipped right back into the role of the underachiever."

Nichol rubbed the back of his neck. Sticking out his chin, he grinned sheepishly. "Luce, I'm not sure what kid you're remembering, but he had far less potential than you give him credit for..."

"In bed." Noin laughed inappropriately. The first girl's eyes were wide with, well, possibly shock. Or humiliation. Or humor. Not unlike listening to one's parents joke about romance. Nichol figured he wasn't getting any action with either of them which left one other.

Keeping his wry grin fixed into one cheek, he turned to the Chinese man. "Chang Wufei, I presume?"

"So you know who I am?" The uniformed man crossed his arms, eyes fixed on the stage where the woman spoke at length about the various influences on her, yet unheard, music.

"Didn't I have you locked up in my brig?" Nichol had painful clarity when it came to the histories of the pilots of the retired Gundams.

The dark eyes flashed back toward Nichol. "Taking credit for an orchestrated arrest?"

Nichol shrugged. He knew a power play when he saw it. The girl bit her lip. Something about her seemed more familiar in context of his former classmate and the controversial war hero.

His hand reached out in order to steady himself against the nearest barstool. The music suddenly blared through the speakers with an electronic squeal which nearly overpowered his shout, "Fuck me, _Relena Peacecraft?_"

Noin's laugh was tossed back to the rafters.

Tucking her hair behind her ears, the former Queen of Earth murmured, "I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen tonight."

***

Wufei stayed prominently by Relena's side as she indecisively placed her bets on the evening's horse race. The side room somehow subdued the rowdy noises of the next door tavern allowing a different sort of hubbub. The clitter-clatter of moving numbers as the odds adjusted to the bets. Multiple high definition television screens each set to different networks covering the race.

"What are you doing here, Luce?" Nichol asked, the alcohol somewhat subdued by the greasy bacon sandwich he devoured between words. "Supervising the girl?"

"Girl?" Noin raised her eyebrows while her face glowed with amusement. "Eriks, you were _propositioning_ that child."

"She's at least eighteen given what she'd been drinking." Nichol raised a finger in his defense.

"I suppose I still think of her as that little girl." Noin rested her head in one hand. They'd sat in an empty booth. Most of the patrons were around the center bar or waiting for Relena to finish deciding her bet.

"Stuck with her then?" Nichol wiped his mouth. "If that's the sort of job a soldier of your level is getting I'm glad I quit that nonsense when I had a chance."

"No, I'm not here for that reason. Specifically, that's Wufei's job."

"_Punishment_," Nichol interjected.

"Punishment," Noin laughed again. "Right. It's not the most highly desired job. The Gundam pilots who stuck with the Preventers rotate responsibility. She won't let anyone else be her bodyguard and this time..."

"Wufei drew the short straw?"

"In one," Noin nodded. "They have a harder time understanding Miss Relena. As her peers, they have a slightly different expectation for her than the rest of us."

"The _rest of us_?" Nichol hesitated with a potato bite halfway in his mouth.

"Love is more complicated than they realize at their age." Noin shrugged her bare shoulders. The lights of the adjacent room were less forgiving and made her seem pale and worn. Nonetheless, in Nichol's estimation, she had aged well.

He replied, indifferently. "Or maybe it's more simple at our age. I like you. You like me." He laughed around a mouthful, "Well, not that _you_ liked me."

"Why didn't you re-enlist?" Noin changed the subject with a new directness in her tone.

He finished chewing. His eyes drifted away from Noin and caught Wufei watching the ex-soldier in turn. Nichol used the napkin, set it in his lap and put both his palms on the table. "I think this has been fun, but I should go."

"Don't you want to see how things play out with Relena?" Noin narrowed her eyes, but without the hostility that Nichol was used to seeing when he met up with an old friend from the military. "She _can_ do what she wants."

"Too much publicity with that one." Nichol shook his head. "Might have been nice at first, but I'll leave that job to the pros."

"Okay." Noin stood. Nichol was afraid she might try to hug him, but she kept her distance.

"Now, to slide back into the scum from which I appeared." Nichol waved his fingers at the former Senator wondering how he'd failed to recognize her earlier. _People see what they want to see_, he figured.

He heard Noin say, "You weren't scum." He chose to ignore her.

***

Daylight came too soon, but Nichol had conditioned himself to roll away from the sunbeams on his bed. The broken alarm clock was a boon. He had not, however, expected the buzz of his doorbell.

"God damn, _fuck!_" Nichol stumbled over the pile of clothing that he might have worn multiple times in the past few weeks. The jeans he found on top were torn in several places but, to his fuzzy thoughts, were more appropriate than appearing naked.

He opened the door to see an empty front porch and Relena Peacecraft halfway back to her chauffeured car. Hesitating briefly, he put as much charm into his tone as he could fake, "Princess!"

Wufei kept the vehicle door open and motioned at her to get inside.

Glancing between them, Relena's expression might have become sly. Nichol would have called it sly. It was hard to know _for sure_ with girls. Nichol had been wrong before. Either way, she made her decision and walked toward the house.

"Mr. Nichol?" She offered her hand. Nichol put his lips to her skin and tried not to breath too heavily. He could taste the remains of his dinner lingering foul on his tongue.

"Come inside," Nichol beckoned. He had a peculiar, inexplicably tidy nature when managing his front room. A glossy bowl of fake fruit decorated the coffee table. Various framed pictures sat on the fireplace mantel. A few pieces of local art decorated the walls. Unlike the rest of the house, which could have been condemned upon inspection, this room was almost presentable. As long as the girl didn't notice the random fruit fly, visitors didn't know any different. "How were the races?"

"I picked unlucky numbers," Relena shared graciously. "I'm sorry, but he has to come inside as well."

Nichol looked back to find Wufei very close to them both, the other man's eyes lifted to the sky as if beseeching some providential rescue from his circumstances. After the interruption of his sleep, Nichol's irritation took a dark, playful spin. "Absolutely, both of you. Inside."

"I can see that you've not neglected your..." Relena paused as she sank into the offered seat. Her eyes were on Nichol's bared chest and he crossed his arms. Not a bashful movement, as much as to touch his own skin.

"I've got a lot of free time, so I work out. Room for you too, guard boy." Nichol pointed to the couch.

"Thanks, I'll stand," Wufei replied. He nearly planted himself side-by-side with Nichol at the entryway.

"Can I get you anything?" Nichol played at being host. Of course, the girl should decline.

"No, thank you." Relena's smile was pleasant, different from the one he'd seen outside. Nichol sniffed and recognized he should like to take a shower.

"We're just passing through." Wufei's nose wrinkled.

"Didn't offer you anything," Nichol teased. "So I take it you don't want anything either?" In response he received another dark stare. "It's okay, I'm simply asking. You're just as welcome here as she is. I know what it's like. Doing what you do. This job, I mean. Following her around."

Nichol sat opposite from Relena and he continued, "Used to do something similar for Une when she was the Colonel for OZ. Drive her around."

"Really? That's interesting." Relena didn't cross her legs. She set her hands delicately on her knees. Nichol considered her posture and how it contradicted the rapid movement of her eyes between the two men.

Nichol relaxed, stretching out his limbs. At the same time, Wufei corrected his posture and seemed fixated on a blank spot on the wall. Nichol said, "Yeah, I used to overstep my bounds. You may have heard."

"You don't come up in conversation that often," Relena might have been teasing. "But yes, something like that may have been mentioned."

"Times change," Nichol shrugged. "People change."

"Not so much," Relena said pointedly. As far as signals went, Nichol couldn't discern at what she was pointing.

"Do you have a job, Mr. Nichol?" Wufei asked suddenly.

Nichol lifted his brows the irony of the outburst not lost on him. "I don't see how that detail has anything to do with anything... call me Eriks, please. I'm sitting here without a shirt. Or shoes, I might add. Informality is fine. And sit down already."

Wufei did sit then, next to his charge, but balanced on the front of the cushions. Gesturing, Wufei indicated the fireplace. "You have a rather neat home, except for the ash in the fireplace. I'm suspecting you used it once and then agonized over cleaning it."

"Wufei?" Relena said with a slight undercurrent of warning.

Nichol barked a laugh. "How did you figure that out?" Then to Relena, "He's amusing. I can see why you keep him. Although, he could try smiling more. The frown immediately identifies him as an unhappy enlisted man, even if the uniform didn't."

"I told him plainclothes are acceptable," Relena whispered.

Wufei scowled, deepening the furrow between his brow. "Your equipment is unused."

Nichol nodded, pursing his lips as if impressed. "Good observation. Except, those were a gift. I recently tossed the cheap ones I'd used prior." He laced his fingers behind his head and enjoyed the nearly visible fumes lifting from the younger man's military designated shoulder pads.

"Liar," Relena hissed, with conspiratorial good-will. Then she turned to her companion, "He's winding you up, Wufei."

"And how is it you know that?" Nichol asked.

Relena answered, "The same way I know I wasn't the person you wanted to take home last night."

Nichol suddenly found the room too bright.

***

"How did it go?" Noin asked, watching in the rearview mirror as Relena climbed into the backseat.

"Good, I think," Relena's eyes sparkled.

"Who's next then?"

"I'm not sure if I want to rush this feeling." The younger woman covered her smile for a moment, then added, "Wufei had no idea. None. But I'm betting on _fireworks_. I think it'll be a while before we hear from him again."

"If Nichol lets him come back to us, you mean?"

"And that would be alright too." Relena looked at her reflection in the window. "They'd done so much for us. Given away so many pieces of themselves to pilot the Gundams. They _should have_ retired."

"As if any of them would know how," Noin agreed.

"You too," Relena said, demurely.

"Message received." They both chuckled. Noin put the car in gear. "What about Duo Maxwell next?"

Relena hummed thoughtfully. "Sylvia's back from University next month. I was thinking I should pay a visit to Heero Yuy."

***

"You're peculiar," Nichol commented. He stood looking at the window watching a second car leave with a familiar face at the wheel. He reached into a decorative bowl on the broad sill and put a mint into his mouth.

"How so?" Came the challenge.

"Relena says she'll grant you a reprieve from your personal guard responsibilities on the condition that you spend one month living in this house." Nichol glanced back at the other man who had already taken off his jacket and dropped the unwanted clothes onto the back of a chair. He paused. He had wondered what those shoulders had looked like when freed from the issued gear. They were _sculpted_. And coming closer. "Last night you took your responsibilities. More. _Well._ Differently."

It was difficult to finish a thought when those lips were distracting his own, punctuating each word. Nichol pulled back until he crashed into one of the frames on his wall.

"Hang on." Nichol put an arm out to stall a second assault. "What's happening?"

"She made one good bet." Wufei ducked his head. An almost bashful movement, it unsettled his hair enough that several dark strands pulled loose from their bindings.

"Wait. No, wait." Nichol kept his arm raised. "She meant. So when she said earlier... she _knew_?"

In a thoughtful pose, Wufei pinched his chin. "I started to suspect she knew something when we were at several establishments that cater to a certain lifestyle. However, it wasn't long after she reunited with Ms. Noin that we came to this town."

"Of course. Noin knows all about my Academy indiscretions. So just because we both can be into a particular _interest_..." Nichol's face became so hot he wanted to rip it off. "That doesn't mean it's going to work. I could like _blondes_!" He found Wufei's smile rather mind-numbing.

And terrifying.

To escape, Nichol kept to the wall, hurried from the room and ran out to the street searching for any sign of Relena's transportation. He shuffled his bare feet then walked into the more soothing texture of the grass.

"It's only a month and then I can take a different assignment." Wufei had followed at a more leisurely pace. His calmness irritated Nichol beyond any rational analysis of the situation.

"This makes me very unhappy," Nichol settled on one emotion, at last. "I paid for this house. I haven't had to live with anyone else for years."

"Very sad," Wufei made an expression of exaggerated sympathy.

"Hey," Nichol challenged, pushing a finger into Wufei's white shirt. "I've read your file. Weren't you married?"

Wufei stepped forward into Nichol's space. Smirk lines appeared near his eyes. "Oh yes. One of those arrangements parents make before they ask you what you might want."

Nichol felt a squeeze on his backside. "Neighbors," he hissed, trying not to smile. "And are you sure you want to rush this? I could kick you out any time in the next thirty days and you're back on Relena duty."

Wufei considered the thought, making a dismissive sound in his throat. "Maybe I'll just make you an offer on the house and see how long _you_ stay in it."

"What?" Nichol asked, baffled.

Wufei grinned. "My horse didn't lose."


End file.
